Names pronounced differently by both parents?

[bazzel]

@peakdixon I'm an American and my wife is Polish. We chose a name for our son that is spelled the same in both languages but is pronounced a bit differently. I pronounce it my way most everyone else pronounces it the Polish way and he has never had any problems.

 

[peakdixon]

@bazzel Does it feel strange for you as a parent to hear people call your child something slightly different from what you call him?

 

[bazzel]

@peakdixon No but maybe because I have been living in Poland for a long time. And I have a name that is similar to a Polish name and, at first, a lot of people will pronounce it closer to what they are used to.

 

[lliner]

@peakdixon Our child is Robert and he's called Robert, Robbie, Robuś, Robunio, Robcio depending on who is speaking and when.

He seems to have understood that they all mean him

 

[peakdixon]

@lliner That’s a lot of cute nicknames

 

[lliner]

@peakdixon The nicknames are even cuter.

Our friend calls him rolnik (farmer) or miglanc (Lazy person, cleverly evading duties). His gran calls him słoneczko (sunshine/sweetie)

 

[searchingforlove]

@peakdixon I am that kid. Tbh it was totally okay, but it does annoy me at times because I pronounce it in a way, that I always have to spell it out.
So maybe keep that in mind.

For our kid we choose a name that is nearly identical. Not perfect tho but we couldn't find another one that we liked.

 

[peakdixon]

@searchingforlove Thank you for sharing your experience! How did you introduce yourself if a new person asked for your name?

 

[searchingforlove]

@peakdixon I prefer the pronunciation of the country I don't live in. This makes me explain the pronunciation all the time. But it's not the end of the world either.

 

[amelia97]

@peakdixon My sister, Spanish speaker, and her husband, English speaker, chose a name like "David" , and they do pronounce it differently. However, the kids is most often referred to by his nickname, do not really an issue.

 

[bmxguydfw]

@peakdixon Australian/Dutch family here. I really wanted names which are pronounced the same in both languages, so that meant no G, J or R names. Helped us narrow down the list!

However, we were struggling to find a middle name for our first son, and my husband suggested Peter, in honour of my (Australian) father. It irks me when my husband uses the Dutch pronunciation. I really thought this was not something to clarify prior to naming him. So from that experience, I would just make sure you’re comfortable with how your partner will pronounce the name!

 

[debbidowner]

@peakdixon My name is an English word that my mom's family can't pronounce. It always made me sad that they couldn't say my name right, but then my mom went and named my younger sister a name that is so difficult to pronounce in their language that they don't even try. She's just "the younger one". I don't think I would have been bothered by a name that has slightly different pronunciations but is still a name in both languages, but for god's sake make sure it at least can be pronounced!

 

[peakdixon]

@debbidowner That sucks! You’d expect the people closest to you to at least be able to say your name..

 

[mitzisdad]

@peakdixon How we say our daughter’s name 100% depends on which language we’re speaking. I don’t think it’s ever been a problem, of our families my wife and I are the only two that can speak eachothers language so we don’t even bother trying to force one pronunciation over the other. I think this kind of malleability is crucial in a bi-lingual household.

 

[godschild9108]

@peakdixon My sons name is Samuel. His dad calls him the French prononciation and I call him Sam or Sammy. If you ask Sam what his name is in English he’ll say Sammy, if you ask him what it is in French he’ll say Samuel. He also knows his sister Sophie has a French and an English prononciation. I love that he recognizes that he has both.